Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
Electric cars are heavy, creating more tiny pollution from roads & tires
This is just one study and I'm not familiar with the journal it's in, so this isn't definite. File it under "intriguing possibility of another unintended consequence". A researcher says that because electric cars are heavier than their gas-powered counterparts, they...

Even after 10 years of practice, making a hybrid roadster is complicated
I have a (slightly belated - it kept getting bumped by breaking news) story in the Monitor today about last week's 10th annual Formula Hybrid engineering contest at New Hampshire International Speedway, which starts thusly: Electric cars may be the future of...

To make a MOOC, some drawings don’t hurt
My Concord Monitor column today talks about a MOOC (free online class) on introductory engineering (sort of an "engineering for poets" approach) put together by a Dartmouth professor who used a cartoon owl to help students work through problems and understand...

Survey says N.H. has more than 100 bee species – 17 of them previously unrecorded
By UNH News Service: Researchers with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station have completed the first assessment of the state’s native bee population, providing wildlife experts with the first comprehensive list of the Granite State’s more than 100 native bees that...
Recent patents issued in New Hampshire
By Targeted News Service: Hypertherm of Hanover has been assigned a patent (9,326,367) developed by two co-inventors for “devices for gas cooling plasma arc torches and related systems and methods.” The co-inventors are Yu Zhang of Lebanon and Zheng Duan of Hanover....

N.H. gets third public bitcoin machine (take that, Massachusetts)
The Twin Mountain General Store has, according to FreeKeene, set up a public bitcoin machine, the third in New Hampshire. I am dubious about the long-term reality of bitcoin (as compared to the blockchain, which is revoluntionary), but this is still pretty cool....
Anti-virus scan freezes medical software in the middle of a procedure on a beating heart
You know how annoying it is when an anti-virus scan starts while you're doing something on your computer, slowing everything down or even freezing it? Now imagine this scenario: A critical medical equipment crashed during a heart procedure due to a timely scan...
Infecting mosquitoes with a bacteria might – might – stop Zika virus
A report from Quarz says: Mosquitoes infected with a bacteria Wolbachia are less likely to carry the dengue virus, previous studies had found. Now, in a new study, Brazilian researchers have found that these bacteria can do the same job against the Zika...
Apparently, Science Cafe fans aren’t modern-country-music fans
At last night's Science Cafe Concord, which discussed Lyme disease and thus ticks, UNH entomologist Alan Eaton discussed the importance of doing a "tick check" on yourself when you come in from outdoors, to pull off the little buggers before they've feasted on your...

Discuss Lyme disease at Science Cafe (and yes, that’s my sock)
Science Cafe Concord tonight discusses Lyme disease. Which means we'll discuss ticks. Which is why there's a picture of me tucking my pants into my socks in today's Concord Monitor.